


Your Tongue (Told Me Every Lie)

by thingcalledlove



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Brio - Freeform, Canon Compliant, Crimes & Criminals, F/M, Gun Weilding, Organized Crime, Up to 1x09
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 23:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14436783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thingcalledlove/pseuds/thingcalledlove
Summary: His posture was loose as he tilted his chin up to look at Beth standing in front of him, tears streaming down her face, with his gun in her hands.Pointing it straight at him.





	Your Tongue (Told Me Every Lie)

**Author's Note:**

> I tried writing from Rio's POV. Tried being the operative word here.
> 
> I could not get over the tiny clip in the promo for 1x10 where Beth is holding Rio's gun, and I knew I had to write my take on it.

“I didn’t think you had it in you,” Rio drawled as he sat on the arm of the couch looking not the least bit flustered with the current turn of events. 

He wasn’t quite sure if he was more angry or impressed with the setup. What he did know though, was that he wouldn’t express either emotion.

His posture was loose as he tilted his chin up to look at Beth standing in front of him, tears streaming down her face, with  _ his _ gun in her hands. 

Pointing it straight at him.

If it had been  _ anyone else _ , they’d already be lying dead on the ground. Rio didn’t need a gun to make him lethal, and the people that frequented the same dirty, unrelenting world as him were all well aware of that fact.   


Beth clearly wasn’t, but he hadn’t expected her to be. She wasn’t in his world, not really. She had just skimmed around on the border. Unbeknownst to her, he had kept her from the worst of it.  Hell, he had kept her from  _ most _ of it. 

Rio cocked up an eyebrow, “It’s your move, sweetheart.”

The words came out slightly more acidic than he had intended. The betrayal had cut deeper this time. He didn’t trust easily, but every time he doubted her, she would jump through every goddamn hoop in her way to prove herself to him. He had let his guard down slightly, and she was about to sink a bullet into the cracked armour. 

“Shut up!” She shouted back, voice breaking on the words, hands shaking, but not from the weight of the gun. 

“You’ll be no better than me,” Rio noted easily, leaning forward slightly.

“That’s not true!” Beth retorted. Another tear followed its predecessors. “I’m doing this to protect my family. It’s self defense. I’m defending myself. I’m not doing it for my enjoyment.”

“You ain’t know shit about why I do what I do,” Rio exploded, standing up, fists clenched. He hated what she was insinuating. It couldn’t be further from the truth. She wasn’t the only one with people to protect. She took a step back at his sudden movement. 

He thought the dynamic between them had shifted. That they were done with all this fucking shit and yet here they were again.

Rio watched Beth, her expression and her movements. The barely visible tremble of her lips, the unshed tears welling up in her eyes, the shaky grasp she had on the gun. She was hurting. The indecision, the anger and the grief rolled out of her in waves.

It finally clicked.

Rio took another step forward. Beth took one back. 

She was hurting.

And so was he. 

“Stop, or I swear to God, I will shoot!” Beth exclaimed trying to keep her voice steady. 

Rio closed the gap between them, walking into the gun so that it was pressed up against his chest. 

Right where his heart was.

“Do it,” Rio demanded.

Tears streaked down Beth’s face. He tracked their path with his eyes until they dripped down off her chin.

“Didn’t think you’d be the one to fuck me over,” Rio said with a humourless laugh, “Other two? Maybe. Not you.”

“You don’t know me,” Beth countered, a flash of anger in her gaze. 

“Maybe not,” Rio conceded, “But you liked working for me.”

“It was a necessity,” Beth whispered, losing some of her bravado.

“Nah,” Rio shook his head, “You got off on that shit.”

He could feel her eyes practically burning a hole in him. 

“Well you did,” he continued, voice low, “Until I took it away.”

Her eyes widened at that. Her mouth opened, but not a single word of denial tumbled out. Things in his world were finally starting to make some sense again. She felt betrayed. He pushed her out (for her own good), which meant cutting off her steady stream of revenue. She wasn’t afraid of what he would do to her, she was pissed at him, and wanted some good ole vengeance. He could make a gangbanger out of her yet it seemed.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” Rio mused aloud, “Guess it’s true.”

“That is not what this is about,” Beth said finally. He very much doubted that.

“Isn’t it?” Rio questioned with a quirk of his brow. “I hurt you, you hurt me back?”

“You were going to kill me!” Beth screamed, “That is what you do with loose ends.”

“Power is in your hands now,” Ignoring the feeble excuse. “You got the gun. Use it.”

“You’re just going to let me kill you?” Beth questioned, her discomfort written across her face plainly.

“Elizabeth.” It came out like a caress, “Do it.”

Her demons were warring with one another. Rio just watched with a tight jaw. He wasn’t going to stop her. Whether she knew it or not, she held all the strings. After all the effort he had made to protect himself and his business, it would be the suburban housewife in front of him that would be his downfall. 

And it had nothing to do with the gun in her hands. She wouldn’t shoot him. That he knew. It was the sway she held over him that would lead to his demise. Her innocence, her drive, her curves, her confidence and the way she lit up whenever he showed the slightest bit of approval after a job. Those would be the things that ended him. 

“I can’t.”  Her arm dropped down, hanging limply at her side. Rio eased the gun out of her grip and tucked it back into the back of his pants. She looked utterly exhausted. All the adrenaline appeared to rush out of her body at once. She leaned into him for support. He rested his hand on her hip to keep her steady. She sunk into his body, every soft curve pressed up against hard muscle. 

“You’ve ruined me,” she muttered.

“I know.”

It was the truth. The first crime had been all of her own doing, but every step beyond that was because of him. Because she intrigued him.

“I like it,” she whispered.

“I know that too.”

Another truth. He may have been the one to help her get her foot in the door, but she was the one that pushed the rest of herself in, thriving in that environment.

“You better go,” Beth said finally, pulling away from him, “Hide out for a bit until this all blows over or something.”

It was probably a good idea. He knew how to disappear for a bit. The smart thing to do would be to shut down the whole operation, lay low, and then when things were calm, pick things up in a new place. 

But he wouldn’t. 

As much as he may have ruined Beth Boland, she had  _ ruined him _ just as much.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, but if Rio doesn't only ever refer to Beth as Elizabeth from now on, I'm going to revolt.
> 
> What did you guys think? I tried to keep Rio in-character(ish), which was hard since we get like 2.5 minutes of screen time with him every episode and literally know nothing about him, like at all. I took some creative liberties. 
> 
> Love to hear all your thoughts, comments or constructive criticism, so leave some if you're ever so inclined <3


End file.
